Welcome to KarenKalish.com

 

WHY

St. Louis is a community that desperately needs racial healing and greater understanding. Examples of mistrust, disrespect, intolerance, and misunderstanding abound. According to the FOCUS St. Louis report Racial Equality in the St. Louis Region: A Call to Action, St. Louis is one of the most racially segregated, racially polarized metropolitan areas in the U.S. It is a challenging and complex problem that is firmly entrenched in our region. Cultural Leadership students are given the tools to bring about social change. Our students learn to replace prejudice with facts, ignorance with knowledge, and suspicion with friendship among its participants their families and the wider community.

WHAT

Cultural Leadership is a nonprofit educational leadership program that teaches high school students to be change agents, social justice activists, and what we call “troublemakers of the best kind.” We teach our students to Stand up, Speak out and Take action when they see or hear an injustice. CL exists to create a more just and equitable community by educating participants to recognize and resolve issues of privilege and injustice. Our students develop leadership skills, build relationships, facilitate dialogues, and learn how to create change in their circles of influence.

They learn to dispel stereotypes and promote dialogue, cooperation, understanding, and mutual respect between all peoples. They will be the next generation of civil rights and social justice activists. Cultural Leadership students are taught to grab an ally or two or three when they see a problem and roll up their sleeves to get to work. Cultural Leadership is the only program of its kind in the St. Louis region.

Cultural Leadership students participate in a year-long program of:

• monthly educational classes and cultural activities;
• a transformational journey to people and places that have to do with civil rights, social justice and democracy in the U.S., including NYC, Philadelhia, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Whitwell, TN, all over Alabama and Mississippi, Little Rock, and Memphis;
• learning leadership, public speaking, and fundraising skills, as well as how to facilitate discussions on issues of racism, diversity, discrimination and education inequity.

There are 460 hours of programming in all.

WHEN

Cultural Leadership recruits students in the fall at the start of their sophomore or junior year. Interviews and selection occur in December. The program begins in January and students meet monthly on Sundays, attend three weekend retreats, a three-week study trip (see above), and various other activities. Students graduate from the program the following January; however, they continue their involvement beyond graduation with public speeches and facilitation sessions on issues of discrimination and diversity. For most, this becomes a commitment they carry with them through college and into their careers.

WHO

Cultural Leadership is open to all sophomores and juniors in the St. Louis region who have demonstrated maturity, curiosity, interest in the community, and leadership potential. Parents/guardians meet regularly while their children are in the program to provide a parallel experience and support student development. We are the only program with this parent component.

HOW MUCH

The budget for Cultural Leadership for 2011 is $300,000. The organization receives support from individuals, corporations, and foundations. It does not receive United Way or government support. With this support, Cultural Leadership is changing the face of race relations – indeed, all forms of discrimination – in St. Louis to make it and the wider community more inclusive and socially just. There is a $700 program fee to participate in Cultural Leadership. The program costs $7,000 per student.

For more information, visit the Cultural Leadership website.